Gate agent operating jetway reported it contacted the airplane engine while being moved into position.

Date: 2023-12 · Aircraft: B787-900 · Phase: ground

Anomalies: conflict-ground-conflict|critical|deviation-discrepancy-procedural-published-material-policy|ground-event-encounter-ground-equipment-issue|ground-event-encounter-object

Synopsis

Gate agent operating jetway reported it contacted the airplane engine while being moved into position.

Narrative

On Day 0 at around XA:05 AM; I was scheduled to meet Flight XXX from ZZZ at Gate XXX. I was waiting at the Gate area and double checked that the aircraft type was an 787-900. After the flight landed; it quickly approached the Gate. I did preposition the jetway for docking with a 787-900 and set it for automatic movement. As the jetway moved closer to the plane; I noticed that the positioning of the jetway as it moved was not properly aligned with the aircraft door. Upon realizing that something was wrong; I stopped the jetway's movement. I then tried to communicate the problem with my fellow employee who was in the jetway with me but at the time she was preoccupied providing flight information to Customs and Border Protection over the phone and was unable to respond to my queries. I then looked down at the ramp team from the jetway who were looking up towards me and the plane but did not provide any indication that something was in error. Given the absence of any communication over the jetway and plane's misalignment; I thought the preposition of the jetway was in fact correct and that it would adjust itself to the correct position after resuming the auto sequence. However; I soon realized that the jetway was still moving in the incorrect direction and stopped it immediately. At the time I was not aware that the jetway had made any physical contact with the plane until later when I went down to the ground and saw that the jetway was positioned right on top of one of the plane's engines. It was also then that I observed that the plane was parked not in the correct location for a 787-9 but rather the spot for a 787-10 which led to the misalignment with the jetway as it was correctly prepositioned for the 787-9.

Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.